Publishing an ebook has never been easier for any company or entrepreneur. Anyone can turn their long years of experience into a long content piece at no cost…. then enjoy the fruits of their work for many years to come.
But:
If it’s easy and cheap, then everyone else is probably already doing it. Which makes it impossible for most businesses to create an ebook and find any success with it.
Unless they find out the right way to do that…
In this guide, you’ll learn what ebooks are and why they’re an excellent fit for digital marketing. You’ll also discover how to create an ebook that transforms your business results and attracts new leads.
Let’s get started.
What Is An Ebook?
From a content marketing point of view, an ebook is just a long-form guide (2500 – 10000 words) about a specific topic or idea. It can be downloaded in many formats, such as PDF, EPUB, and MOBI — then read on any device.
ebook
Unlike traditional ebooks, content marketing ebooks focus on a single idea instead of covering many topics. That’s why this has become a popular way for online businesses to repurpose their top-performing articles.
How Do Ebooks Fit into Modern Digital Marketing?
To create an ebook, you need to research, write, and edit your work — then format the whole thing into a visually appealing design. After that, you must promote the ebook across various platforms to increase downloads and make it successful.
Which makes you wonder…
Is writing an ebook worth the effort? And how is that going to help my business grow?
Well…
In October 2020, ebook sales in the US increased by 20.4% compared to the year before. Although selling isn’t the end goal here, such stats are important for showing to what degree consumers are interested in this unique content format.
On top of that, writing an ebook for your business will help you:
Boost Credibility
There is no better way for your company to establish credibility in the market than to publish a long, valuable ebook. Such a research-based content piece with expert quotes and unique recommendations is the ultimate strategy for enhancing trust.
That’s how you’ll attract new customers to learn more about your brand and endorse your expertise.
Improve SEO Results
SEO is all about content length and quality — both of which are features you can offer if you write an outstanding ebook and publish it in PDF or HTML5 format. That’s how you can rank higher and drive lots of traffic to your website.
Besides, ebooks are an excellent way to build backlinks since most webmasters would be happy to share them with their audience.
Optimize Your Sales Funnels
Whether it’s by capturing more emails or moving them down the funnel quickly, ebooks are great for optimizing your sales process.
For instance, most leads in the awareness stage are just getting familiar with the basic notions in your industry.
By publishing an ebook that anticipates their questions and teaches them about possible solutions, these prospects will get much faster to the decision stage and become loyal to your brand.
Grow Your Email Subscribers List
If you tried email marketing for a while, you might already realize how hard it is to get people to sign up for your forms. That’s because we all need an incentive to give our email addresses online.
So…
By offering your audience an invaluable ebook about a relevant topic, you’ll encourage them to sign-up and join your list.
How to Create An Outstanding Ebook for Your Business
Writing a successful ebook that drives results doesn’t have to be so complicated. It all comes down to good planning and execution.
Here’s how you can do that in seven simple steps:
1- Pick Your Main Idea
Your main idea will make or break the ebook you’re about to write, which is why you must put a lot of thought into it. You want to choose a topic that’s not only interesting to you but also to anyone who’s going to read your ebook.
More importantly…
Avoid topics that most of your competitors have covered before. For instance, making an ebook about the basics of your craft is likely to be consumed by everyone in the industry.
At the same time:
You don’t want to get too specific with your idea to a point where you eliminate most of your target customers.
What you should do instead is find the right balance between new and interesting. And make sure it’s also something you can cover in a few thousand words, not more or less.
2- Create an Outline
Creating an outline from the start will save you a lot of headache as you move forward. It allows you to stay on track of things and ensure that you’ve covered everything about the topic.
Write down all the thoughts you want to share, then break them down into smaller sections while considering the total length of your ebook.
It also helps to follow one of the popular formats for writing ebooks. For example, you can structure your ideas starting with basic definitions, main challenges, then ending with tips and solutions.
3- Write the First Draft
It’s important to begin your work by researching the stats, examples, and facts your audience might need to know. That will make your arguments more convincing and increase your credibility.
The best part about publishing an ebook is that you don’t have to be an expert writer to write a good one. As long as you know the ins and outs of your craft, you can create a stellar ebook that will dominate the market.
Create an eBook for Your Business
When writing, avoid complex words, wordy sentences, and long paragraphs to increase readability. Also, always maintain an active voice, and use “You” and “I” to keep your audience engaged.
Can’t find enough time to sit down and write?
Assign the task to a team member you trust with your brand — then revise their work once finished. Or, you can hire a freelancer to write for you and save yourself the trouble.
4 – Include a Call to Action
Your ebook must play a role in moving your prospects closer to a buying decision. It can do that by encouraging readers to take the next important step, which could be anything from reading another piece to directly reaching out to your business.
The thing is:
Most readers won’t know what they need to do unless you tell them specifically.
So…
Include a strong call-to-action (CTA) in the form of a short, persuasive paragraph detailing what your prospect’s current problem is and why your products or services are the solution.
Avoid asking for too many CTAs at once because that will distract the reader. Instead, focus on a single action that you must choose wisely
5- Finalize Your Draft
Once your first draft is ready, keep it away for a few hours before you start editing so you can look at it with fresh eyes later.
When ready:
Read the whole thing aloud to spot any typos or grammatical mistakes in your work. Simplify your sentences and look for easier words to use to improve understanding.
Most importantly, rethink the ebook structure to ensure that your ideas make sense in the order they’re in.
6- Finish Your Formatting
Most successful ebooks you see today keep a simple style and format. They go for a minimalist design with only a few fonts, colors, and design elements. That’s because what matters most about the work is the ideas and solutions you’re trying to provide.
However:
Images and graphs are attractive storytellers that can make your ebook more appealing to the reader. So, try to include a few in your work to give your audience a closer picture of what you’re trying to teach them.
Also:
You can create a simple cover for your ebook using free design apps online. Or if you’re ready to invest some money into this, you can hire a freelance designer on Fiverr for a basic fee.
7- Publish and Promote Your Ebook
Publishing is the easy part, but promotion is what this whole process has been about.
An ebook that gets zero reads doesn’t exist. So if you want to reap the benefits of your hard work, you need to be serious about ebook promotion.
Publish and Promote eBook
There are many ways you can attract people to download your ebook and get them interested in reading it. You’ve already done most of that by choosing a trendy, interesting topic and offering your unique knowledge about it.
